Comments: 37

The lyrics of this song were written in the summer of 1977. They were written after a half drunk and stoned encounter with a lady of the night in an alley adjacent to Louie's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, R.I. (Attn. Terry from Wickford). Roomful of Blues was playing there that night. The lyrics were sent to a woman who left Rumford, R.I. via Montreal to the U.K. upon the occasion of her split with the maladjusted author. Every word, line and verse were copied by Roger Waters who had a relationship with this woman named Jennifer Schroeder. The first phone ring is the beginning of Roger's contribution. That song was put in by him as an illustration of the depravity of the author even though Roger did not know the actual events that inspired it. As a bonus it is a huge FU from Roger and Jennifer to the man she wasted six months with on a lark that she thought would yield a true love or at least a rockin' good time. He refused to accompany her back to England and the departure from Montreal was bittersweet at best. Roger's interviews concerning the meaning of the lyrics is just generic bulls--t. There was a note she carried that she and Roger were sure the author would never come forward to confront her hint of blackmail. And he didn't.John Donley - Amissville, Va

young lust would be about "Pink" trying to find appeasement for his sexual appetite. his wife is in the states, whoring around, and he cant do anything about it. the dancing is them acting like sluts to get backstage. any moron knows that. to properly understand pink floyd, listen to the albums for 16 years. it works wonders.Catherine - Landrum, Sc

joey,hw, united states,you got to be kidding or really falling short of any imagination. i think you need a dirty women.William - Selinsgrovw, Pa

The phone conversation which segues into the One of My Turns groupie sequence was actually a "trick" played on an American phone operator. They called her and asked to be connected to the UK where it was arranged to have a man answering the phone and hanging up again every time she tried to connect the call. Thus, the drama of Pink's cheating wife on the other end was very real for the Operator and not a scripted performance. So, at this point in the story, you have Pink on the road absentmindedly taking solace in groupies, but not really feeling anything at all. His wife has given up trying to connect to him and with Pink away on the road for so long, she finally gives in to her own needs back home and cultivates an affair. This is when Pink finally learns that he has lost his estranged wife and yet another Brick slips into place. We now have the scene set for him to finally lose it and trash the hotel room and terrify the groupie in One of My Turns. And yes, Waters confirms that the song is essentially about talking and thinking about sex and "dirty" things, but it being a game, really. A macho pose, since the intimacy necessary for actual physical contact is too much to actually bear for either an adolescent or a man who has no idea of what true intimacy is really like...such as Pink. The song was added as a Gilmour contribution to rock things up a bit. Waters asked David for something hard and crunchy like "The Nile Song" from the soundtrack to More (also heard on Relics) and this was the result. When Waters asked Bryan Adams to sing this for the Berlin concert, he honestly hoped that radio would pick it up as a single and give it a ton of airplay. He considered Adams to be the perfect lunkheaded, macho rock star that this song embodies. A bit off there, Rog, but, still pretty funny...Terry - Wickford, Ri

david should have sung ALL Pink Floyd songs!!!!!! had he sung more songs on the wall album it would have been even better!Mem - Melbourne, Australia

OK, so I'll finally admit I've lost the piece of paper I mentioned months ago... never mind.Michael - Oxford, -

This IS Floyd's best song and one of the greatest rock/metal songs of all timeMike - Hueytown , Al

Worst song on The Wall, but important part of the storyline that leads into One of My Turns.

Pretty self explanitory.Steveb - Spokane, Wa

I shall provide more details of these screams when I locate the piece of paper on which I wrote down the timings, so watch this space!Michael - Oxford, England

The most outrageous vocal performance ever from David Gilmour, with no fewer than 7 (count 'em all, SEVEN!) screams during the solo! "Owww! Owww! Owwww!" etcMichael - Oxford, England

This is really good song, off of my favorite album. Although, it would have been better if it didn't include the telephone conversation at the end, which I noticed in another song.Ed - York, Pa

But you have to start with the Thin Ice in order for it to start at the flower sceneAndrew - Isla Vista, Ca

If you sync the Wall with Alice and Wonderland, starting right when alice starts playing in the field with her cat, then Young lust will start right at the start of the flower sceneAndrew - Isla Vista, Ca

The three gilmour ones are the best, not to say the other ones are bad. He added the rock and roll. Without them the album is too depressing, and itmakes you want to commit suicide.Bryan - New York, Ny

Listen to the whole album. The phone call on the track has to do with the narrative of the album. (if you'd call it narrative). I love this song If you get rid of vera this would be the best album ever.Matt - Sydney, Australia

Awesome song, no matter what the phone call means. It's my favorite Gilmour solo; not too flashy, but incredibly well-played. Pure rock'n'roll. The pinch harmonics he uses are beautiful, and it's hard to use those tastefully.Jamie - Gainesville, Fl

steve, i don't get what these women were trying to do back stage, and the dancing really confuses me.Joey - Hw, United States

Yeah does anybody notice that all the songs that David Gilmour co-wrote (with the exception of Another Brick in the Wall) are the best from The WallAlex - Fort Mill, Sc

Check out the live version on "Is There Anybody Out There?:The Wall Live 1980-1981" The song has an actual intro and the guitar is much cooler. Now you don't have to listen to empty spaces before it. (Even thought that is a decent song).John - Davis, Ca

If you have seen the movie this song takes place after Mr. Floyd hears another man answer his wife's phone and realizes she is cheating on him. This song is about wanting to get back at his wife for cheating. He invites the attractive young female groupie in to his trailor, but he is so wrapped up in the thought of his wife he doesn't want to do anything. He then snap in the song "One of my turns".Scott - Canton, Oh

I believe this song is about Pink being naive and getting a woman to "show this stranger around". Only to have her break his heart when he finds out she had been cheating on him via the phone call.Chris - Hamilton, Canada

I felt that the phone conversation could be seen as him being out of town, and calls home to his wife. His wife was "sleeping around" and the other man picks up. When the operator says "Collect call for Mrs. Floyd from Mr. Floyd", he hangs up, since its his lover's wife. He picks up again, hears the same voice, and immediately hangs up. Just another way of interpreting it.Dan - Pittsburgh, Pa

This is one of the best Pink Floyd songs in my opinion.Michael - Seattle, Wa

the worms eating into your brain are a metaphor for the decaying of your brain that comes with isolation. they were gonna be a more major theme of the album, but as they edited it was cut down to just be in a couple songs. i saw that in a roger waters interview. its really useful in understanding the wall. type "rogers waters the wall interview song by song" into google and it'll come up.Jeanette - Irvine, Ca

Patrick, you are wrong, I'm afraid, which is a shame, because your comment's tone was absolutely wonderful. The phone conversation does take place after this song. The conversation before Empty Spaces is a reversed message that says something like, "Congratulations, you've found the secret message"...and so on. The dialog that you referred to comes directly after the phone conversation. So, to recap: Empty Spaces has the secret message. Young Lust has the phone conversation. One of My Turns has the groupie dialogue.Paul - Phoenix, Az

The phone conversation does NOT begin after or before the song. It occurs before the song "Empty Spaces" on the album. The dialog after this song (before "One of My Turns") is when the rock star brings one of the groupies with him to the hotel room he's staying in.

(Sound of door opening, closing)Groupie: Oh my God! What a fabulous room! Are all these your guitars?!(Sounds of television)Groupie: Can I get a drink of water? You want some? Huh? Oh, wow! Look at this tub! (in sexy, inviting tones) you wanna take a bath?!(TV still playing)Groupie: What're you watching? Hello!! Are you feelin' OK?Patrick - Conyers, Ga

In the live video "The Delicate Sound of Thunder," circa 1988 or so, the band gives a nod to this song towards the end of their performance of "Learning To Fly" by inserting the little guitar riff from "Young Lust" that comes after each verse (they may do it in the "Pulse" video as well; can't recall right now). Check it out sometime.Ash - Charleston, Wv

People, The Wall in whole is about a single topic...the life and desent into insanity of a rock star. That phone call is "just another brick in the wall" he is building around himself(metephorical of course)...BTW if anyone for sure knows what the Worm is, do share...Ralf - Coatesville, Pa

In the book Classic Rock Stories by Tim Morse, one of the Pink Floyd members said that the song is about people who spend their time hanging out of dirty movies and reading dirty magazines, but too afraid to try to "real thing."Mark - Cincinnati, Oh

The conversation:[Phone rings.....Clink of the receiver being lifted] Hello?"Yes, a collect call for Mrs. Floyd from Mr. Floyd.""Will you accept the charges from United States?" [Clunk! of phone being put down]"Oh he hung up! That's your residence, right? I wonder why he hung up?""Is there supposed to be someone else there besides your wife there to answer?"[Phone rings again....clunk of receiver being picked up]"Hello?""This is United States calling, are we reaching...[interrupted by phone being put down]"See he keeps hanging up, and its a man answering"[Whirr of connection being closed.]

Now what does this phone conversatiion have anything to do with the song? I agree with Dean and that this song is about life centered around sensual pleasures. It has nothing to do with rock stars grotesque lifestyles.Stephanie - Denver, Co

I think this song is about the futility of a life centered around the pursuit of sensual pleasures. His quest for the ultimate "dirty woman" is destined to be unfulfilled. There is no "woman in this desert land" to "set him free". The guitar sings of this tragic paradox - the frustration.Dean - Blountsville, Al

If you listen very carefully, towards the end of this song, there's a conversation between a British resident and a United States Telephone Operator. You can here the British Ringback Tone when the operator tries to get through to the British Residence.Annabelle - Eugene, Or

Interesting, in the movie "Pink Floyd The Wall," this is played as some young females use their bodies to get in back stage while the main character sits in a stupor in his trailer watching TV. "One of my Turns" directly follows this as one of them gets into his trailer. I guess they didn't want to film an excess of Pink, just of the ladies.Steve - Sterling Heights, Mi

this wasn't "covered" by those people, it was played/sang by those people at the "The Wall" concert in Berlin in 1990. It's technically not a cover.Robin - Sydney, Canada